NRLF 


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REMINISCENCES  OF 
PRINCETON  COLLEGE 

By  EDWARD  WALL  Class  of  1848 


REMINISCENCES 

OF 

PRINCETON   COLLEGE 

1845—1848 


BY 

EDWARD  WALL 
i% 

CLASS  OF  1848 
Emeritus  Professor,  Stevens  Institute  of  Technology 


PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

PRINCETON 

1914 


PREFATORY  NOTE 

These  Reminiscences  are  due  to  a  suggestion  of  the  Editor  of  the 
General  Catalogue.  Professor  Collins  requested  me,  as  one  of 
the  older  alumni,  to  send  him  my  recollections  of  Princeton 
while  I  was  a  student.  When  they  were  written,  some  of  my  friends 
were  sufficiently  interested  to  want  copies;  and  the  opinion  was 
expressed  by  one,  whose  knowledge  and  experience  give  weight  to 
his  opinions,  that  some,  of  the  alumni  might  be  interested  in  these 
memorials  of  Princeton  in  the  late  forties,  in  "these  old  forgotten 
things,  and  battles  long  ago". 

When  my  brother  and  myself  were  admitted  to  the  Sophomore 
Class  of  Princeton  in  1845,  tne  College  Year  commenced  in  mid- 
summer. The  first  term  began  in  the  second  week  of  August.  There 
were  two  vacations  in  the  College  Year,  with  six  weeks  vacation  in 
summer  and  six  in  winter.  It  was  said,  that  this  division  of  the  year 
was  made  to  accommodate  the  Southern  students,  who  then  num- 
bered about  one-third  of  the  whole  number  of  students.  It  enabled 
the  students  from  the  South  to  visit  their  homes  in  the  cooler  season, 
and  then  spend  mid-summer  in  the  more  bracing  air  of  the  north. 
I  never  experienced  any  inconvenience  from  studying  in  August. 
The  thick  stone  walls  of  the  college  buildings  kept  the  air  of  the 
rooms  free  from  sultriness  and  sleep  at  night  was  refreshing. 

The  examination  for  admission  to  the  College  was  held  in  the 
President's  study, — a  room  in  the  house  which  is  now  the  Dean's 
where  the  weekly  meetings  also  of  the  Faculty  were  held.  It  was 
oral,  and  was  on  the  Latin,  Greek  and  Algebra  studied  in  the  Fresh- 
man year. 

The  recitation  rooms  of  the  Freshman  and  Sophomore  classes 
were  in  the  basement  of  a  stone  building  that  stood  directly  in  the 
rear  of  the  President's  house,  facing  the  front  campus.  The  base- 
ment was  only  two  or  three  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and 
well  lighted  and  ventilated.  The  first  story,  which  was  reached  by  a 

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4  REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE 

high  flight  of  stone  steps,  was  used  by  the  Junior  class,  and  the 
second  story  was  the  College  Library.  In  the  basement  of  a  similar 
building,  across  the  front  campus,  was  the  Refectory.  And  the  first 
story  was  the  Lecture  Room  of  the  Senior  class  for  Physics 
Chemistry. 


THE  PROFESSORS 

ALBERT  B.  DOD 

The  chief  event  in  the  first  term  was  the  death  of  Professor 
Albert  B.  Dod.  His  character  and  popularity  among  the  students, 
as  well  as  the  antecedent  circumstances  of  his  death  made  this  event 
unusually  impressive.  Professor  Dod  was  of  middle  height,  well 
formed,  with  an  intellectual  face,  the  most  striking  feature  of  which 
was  his  eyes.  These  were  large  and  dark  with  plenty  of  dormant  fire. 
Indeed,  while  greatly  admired,  respect  was  mingled  with  fear, — fear 
of  his  sarcasm,  which  came  down  on  the  offender  like  a  lash.  He 
always  wore  a  frock  coat  buttoned,  which  gave  a  slightly  military 
air  to  his  bearing.  The  slight  stoop  of  his  head  suggested  the  habitual 
student.  He  was  all  that  and  had  been  from  boyhood. 

He  was  the  best  preacher  in  the  Faculty.  This  was  the  opinion  of 
Dr.  James  W.  Alexander,  who  before  he  went  to  New  York,  while 
a  Professor  in  the  college,  was  his  only  rival.  He  was  as  a  preacher 
direct,  practical  and  incisive.  He  made  a  greater  use  of  irony  than 
most  preachers  do.  His  delivery  was  quiet,  and  even  the  finest 
passages  were  spoken  with  calmness,  but  with  evidences  of  reserved 
power. 

He  only  preached  once  in  the  College  Chapel  during  the  fall 
before  he  died.  His  text  was  "Rejoice,  O  Young  Man,  in  Thy 
Youth,  &c."  He  described  in  the  sermon  young  men  drinking.  At 
length,  one  of  them  sinks  down  insensible,  overcome  with  liquor,  and 
his  companions  carry  him  home  on  a  shutter.  As  he  reached  this 
point,  he  remarked,  making  a  slight  pause,  and  with  a  tone  and 
manner  which  expressed  many  blended  feelings.  "He  is  happy 
now." 

Professor  Dod  was  also  an  eloquent  talker,  was  at  home  in  a  wide 
range  of  subjects  besides  Mathematics,  of  which  he  was  Professor. 
He  had  from  boyhood  neglected  exercise,  and  in  the  fall  of  '45  he 
began  to  try  to  repair  the  error. ,  Just  then  an  event  happened,  which 
contributed  to  sap  his  strength. 

5 


6  REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE 

A  student  named  Boudinot,  a  relative  of  Mrs.  Dod,  went  out 
shooting  with  a  companion,  and  accidentally  shot  himself.  The 
wound  was  in  his  head,  and  ultimately  proved  fatal.  He  was  taken 
to  Professor  Dod's  house,  and  Professor  Dod  become  his  most 
constant  attendant,  watching  assiduously  by  his  bedside,  and  remov- 
ing the  portions  of  brain  that  oozed  out  from  the  fractured  skull. 
Each  day  he  wrote  a  long  and  graphic  account  of  the  condition  of 
the  patient  to  a  lady,  a  relative  of  the  dying  boy.  After  his  death, 
he  himself  was  taken  sick. 

When  this  occurred,  the  interest  of  Faculty  and  students  and 
townspeople  was  so  great  that  daily  bulletins  of  his  condition  were 
issued.  In  this  way  it  may  be  said  that  both  town  and  college 
watched  by  his  bedside.  There  were  touching  interviews  between 
him  and  Dr.  Charles  Hodge,  a  lifelong  friend.  In  some  of  these 
interviews,  Professor  Dod  lamented  that  the  study  of  the  books 
of  certain  thinkers  had  cost  him  the  loss  of  half  his  life.  Dr.  Hodge 
at  the  funeral  of  Professor  Dod  repeated  this  statement,  and 
summed  up  the  general  character  of  these  writers  under  the  designa- 
tion "New  Schoolism".  It  was  an  unfortunate  phrase.  The  Presby- 
terian Church  was  at  that  time  divided  into  New  and  Old  School, 
and  some  ministers  of  the  New  School  thought  the  reference  was 
to  them,  and  found  fault  with  Dr.  Hodge  for  introducing  contro- 
versial matters  in  a  funeral  sermon.  But  Dr.  Hodge  denied  having 
any  reference  to  the  New  School.  He  probably  referred  to  the 
German  successors  of  Kant,  the  great  German  metaphysician,  who 
as  his  followers  say  woke  Europe  from  her  dogmatic  slumbers. 

Dr.  MacLean,  the  Vice-President,  and  Professor  Dod  had  not 
always  agreed  in  the  faculty  meetings.  Dr.  MacLean  hated  innova- 
tions, and  Professor  Dod  was  not  averse  to  them.  At  the  Profes- 
sor's death,  there  was  an  interchange  of  assurances  of  mutual  esteem 
and  affection  notwithstanding  their  occasional  disagreements.  Ten- 
der messages  were  sent  to  his  aged  mother,  who  was  living  in  New 
Brunswick,  and  to  his  sisters. 

His  medical  treatment  was  what  was  then  customary  in  Princeton, 
and  included  profuse  bleeding.  He  died  in  middle  life,  leaving  a 
widow  and  a  family  of  seven  children  without  means.  A  feeling  of 
personal  loss  was  quite  general.  It  was  felt  that  not  only  his  family 


REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE  7 

and  the  college  had  met  with  a  loss,  but  even  the  whole  community 
and  country.  His  friends  and  admirers  were  found  all  over  the 
union,  and  were  not  confined  to  his  own  church.  It  was  felt  that 
he  was  fitted  to  produce  works  of  permanent  value  to  the  church  and 
society.  A  few  reviews,  which  attracted  much  attention  at  the  time, 
were  all  the  contributions  he  made  to  literature  during  his  life. 

E.  M.  TOPPING 

In  Greek  we  were  taught,  during  the  Sophomore  year  by  Adjunct 
Professor  Topping,  who  was  a  close  friend  of  Professor  Dod.  He 
was  a  very  exact  and  thorough  instructor.  He  would  strive  in  trans- 
lating a  passage,  for  instance  in  the  Iliad,  to  find  terms,  which  would 
not  only  give  a  meaning,  but  which  would  give  also  the  mood  of  the 
speaker.  He  would  sometimes  pause  long  on  a  passage,  reproducing 
the  situation,  and  suggesting  one  synonym  after  another  to  express 
the  precise  shade  of  meaning.  To  some  it  was  interesting,  and  of 
permanent  value,  but  not  to  all  the  students.  I  think  that  Professor 
Topping  was  not  altogether  a  man  after  Dr.  MacLean's  heart.  The 
Doctor  once  remarked  in  my  presence  that  Professor  Topping 
was  doing  work  that  belonged  to  him.  This  implied  that  Professor 
Topping  was  not  doing  his  own  work.  At  any  rate,  Professor 
Topping  left  college  at  the  close  of  the  year,  and  took  charge  of  a 
classical  school  in  Baltimore,  where  his  passion  for  accuracy,  and  a 
slight  nervous  irritability  interfered  with  his  financial  success. 

JOHN   MACLEAN,   VICE-PRESIDENT 

The  member  of  the  faculty  that  was  most  popular  among  the 
students,  was,  by  all  odds,  Dr.  MacLean.  The  reason  of  this  was 
because  he  was  a  magnanimous  warm  hearted  man,  the  friend  of 
every  one  that  was  in  trouble,  even  if  the  trouble  was  a  crop  of 
wild  oats. 

His  character  was  so  well  known  and  he  was  so  popular  in  the 
South,  that  it  was  said  of  him  during  the  Civil  War,  that  he  could 
have  gone  any  where  in  the  Confederacy  unchallenged. 

It  was  said  that  he  was  born  in  North  College,  where  his  father 
a  noted  Scotch  scientist  had  apartments.  It  was  believed  by  the 
students  that  he  never  took  off  his  clothes  during  term  time.  He 


8  REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE 

wore  during  cool  weather  a  loose  fur  lined  overcoat,  which  it  was 
said  had  been  brought  from  Russia  by  his  uncle,  Commodore  Bain- 
bridge,  and  presented  to  him.  Another  tradition  was  that  when  the 
outer  cloth  of  the  coat  was  worn  out,  it  would  be  renewed,  and  when 
the  fur  was  the  worse  for  wear,  it  would  be  renewed.  And  that 
these  alternate  renewals  had  taken  place  several  times,  promising  an 
immortality  to  the  coat,  similar  to  that  of  the  deacon's  one  horse 
shay. 

He'  was,  although  well  on  in  years,  the  most  active  member  of  the 
faculty  in  detecting  disorder.  He  would  prowl  around  on  dark 
nights,  lurking  behind  trees,  or  around  the  corners  of  buildings,  and 
suddenly  flash  the  light  of  the  dark  lantern  he  carried  on  the  faces 
»f  the  roysterers,  everyone  of  whom  he  knew.  He  said  that,  when 
he  was  a  young  man,  he  could  give  a  student  quite  a  number  of 
yards  start,  between  North  College  and  the  street,  and  yet  catch 
him  before  he  reached  the  fence  of  the  front  campus. 

He  liked  his  detective  work.  This  was  the  declaration  to  me 
of  Professor  Hope.  And  he  added  that  Dr.  MacLean  said  he  did 
not,  but  he  did.  He  triumphed  in  matching  his  ingenuity  in  detecting 
against  the  ingenuity  of  the  students  in  concealing  lawless  pranks. 
But  when  guilt  was  brought  home  to  the  evil  doers,  and  the  crimin- 
als were  brought  up  for  sentence,  he  would  intercede  for  them,  so 
that  they  might  escape  with  a  reprimand,  or  rustication  for  a  week 
at  a  neighboring  farm  house.  Even  when  the  culprits  endeavored 
to  cover  their  tracks  by  lying,  he  still  made  excuses  for  them.  He 
went  to  Old  Testament  history  to  find  extenuations.  He  said, 
"Abraham  lied,  and  Isaac  lied,  and  Jacob  lied,  and  David  lied,  and 
what  can  you  expect  from  boys  whose  principles  are  not  yet  fixed, 
when  they  find  themselves  in  a  tight  place". 

But  he  did  not  devote  all  his  days  and  nights  to  detective  work. 
He  was  a  good  scholar,  and  had  contributed  learned  articles  to 
reviews.  And  Dr.  McCosh,  in  his  Inaugural,  when  he  succeeded 
Dr.  MacLean  in  the  Presidency  of  the  College,  said  that*  there  was 
not  a  department  of  the  college,  which  Dr.  MacLean  could  not  fill 
with  credit. 

The  following  incidents  are  here  not  out  of  place.  On  the  night 
of  the  Senior  ball  of  the  Class  '47,  about  12  o'clock,  my  brother  and 


REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE  9 

I  were  sitting  in  our  room  on  the  ground  floor  of  W.  C,  when 
we  heard  a  dull  sound  like  a  thud  at  the  hall  door.  We  hurried  out, 
and  found  a  young  man  lying  on  the  flat  stone  before  the  door, 
evidently  in  great  distress.  He  had  fallen  out  of  the  window  at  the 
end  of  the  second  story  hall.  He  had  come  from  the  ball, — he  was 
in  evening  dress, — and  had  gone  to  his  room  for  some  purpose,  and 
on  coming  down  stairs  thought  he  had  reached  the  front  door,  when 
he  had  reached  the  front  window  of  the  second  story.  He  fell 
through  the  opening,  the  window  having  been  taken  out.  His  leg  was 
broken.  I  hurried  over  to  Dr.  MacLean's,  found  him  in  his  study,  and 
related  what  had  happened.  He  told  me  to  bring  the  young  man  to 
his  house.  I  ran  back,  and  my  brother,  taking  the  sufferer  in  his 
arms  and  adjusting  the  broken  leg  as  well  as  possible  to  avoid  pain, 
carried  him  over  to  Dr.  MacLean's  study  and  laid  him  on  a  lounge. 
A  doctor  was  sent  for  immediately.  The  leg  was  set,  but  it  was  six 
weeks  before  it  could  be  used,  during  which  time  the  patient  was 
tenderly  cared  for  by  Dr.  MacLean's  maiden  sister,  Miss  Mary,  who 
presided  over  his  household. 

During  the  Sesqui-Centennial  exercises,  on  the  afternoon  of 
President  Cleveland's  reception  at  Prospect,  I  went  to  the  cemetery. 
I  strolled  among  the  tombs,  reading  the  names  of  men  and  women, 
whom  I  had  known  fifty  years  before  in  Princeton.  And  on  not  one 
of  the  tombs  did  I  find  any  flowers,  except  on  Dr.  MacLean's.  On 
the  old  bachelor's  tomb,  to  whom  Princeton  College  was  wife  and 
child,  some  one  to  whom  his  memory  was  dear,  had  placed  flowers, 
a  memorial  of  love. 

JOSEPH  HENRY 

As  the  death  of  Professor  Dod,  in  my  first  year  in  college  inflicted 
a  loss  on  the  college,  which  could  not  be  repaired,  so  during  my 
last  year,  the  college  met  with  a  similar  loss  in  the  resignation  by 
Professor  Henry  of  his  Professorship.  He  had  been  appointed 
Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institute.  Professor  Henry  did  not 
remove  immediately  to  Washington  on  his  election.  Our  class  there- 
fore had  his  lectures  on  Physics. 

In  connection  with  the  Smithsonian  Institute,  which  he  planned 
and  afterwards  organized,  the  following  incident  is  not  without  in- 


io  REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE 

terest  to  me.  One  morning,  immediately  after  the  study  hour  had 
begun,  an  attendant  of  the  college  came  to  my  room  and  said  Pro- 
fessor Henry  wished  to  see  me.  I  found  him  in  his  study.  He  said 
he  wished  me  to  write,  while  he  dictated.  I  sat  down  and  wrote  the 
whole  day,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  minutes  for  lunch.  And 
when  I  had  finished,  the  sheets  contained  the  plan  of  the  Smithson- 
ian Institute.  I  went  to  my  room  in  the  twilight  a  tired  young  man, 
but  with  several  dollars  in  my  pocket,  which  were  not  there  in  the 
morning. 

Professor  Henry  was  a  large  man,  standing  very  erect,  to  which  a 
slight  tendency  to  corpulency  inclined  him  all  the  more.  In  ordinary 
intercourse,  his  bearing  was  marked  by  affability  and  dignity,  with 
a  slight  stateliness  in  his  manner,  which  was  accentuated  by  his  size. 
It  was  said  of  him  by  Judge  Field,  that  when  any  one  was  jocose 
when  he  was  present,  his  laughter  began  after  the  others  present,  as 
he  had  stopped  to  analyze  the  jest.  The  salaries  of  the  Professors  at 
that  time  were  so  low,  that  it  was  said  Mrs.  Henry  made  his  suits. 

In  the  lecture  room,  there  was  much  in  his  bearing  that  showed 
that  he  was  a  man  of  power.  In  speaking  there  was  often  an  impli- 
cation of  self  restraint,  that  he  was  holding  himself  in,  that  he  was 
using  the  curb.  There  was  a  nervous  tension,  which  showed  itself 
in  his  quick  glances,  and  in  the  tones  of  his  voice,  although  these 
were  always  conversational.  And  when  the  attention  of  any  student 
flagged,  he  brought  down  the  rattan  cane  that  he  used  in  the  lecture 
room  with  an  impatient  whack  on  the  high  table  before  him,  and 
with  a  vigor  that  showed  that  there  was  plenty  more  nervous  energy 
behind  the  arm  that  wielded  the  cane.  If  the  whack  came,  when 
the  nerves  were  tense  while  writing,  it  was  like  an  electric  shock. 

His  mode  of  lecturing  was  different  in  some  respects  from  other 
lecturers  on  scientific  subjects.  Before  he  took  up  his  special  subject, 
he  gave  the  class  a  lecture  on  Inductive  Reasoning.  He  defined  and 
explained  the  meaning  of  the  terms, — fact,  observation,  experi- 
ment, hypothesis,  inductive  inference,  verification,  theory  and  law. 
When  he  took  up  any  department  of  Physics, — a  full  syllabus  of  the 
lecture  having  been  put  on  the  black  board  by  one  of  the  class, — 
he  reproduced  the  first  steps  in  the  history  of  the  science,  and 
connected  each  step  in  the  progress  of  its  discovery  with  the  logical 


REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE  11 

act  which  led  to  it.  So  that  each  lecture  illustrated  an  act  of  reason- 
ing as  well  as  gave  instruction  in  Physics. 

He  would,  in  the  beginning,  group  together  the  facts,  which  the 
Physicist  was  considering, — often  reproducing  them, — and  then  give 
the  hypothesis,  which  they  suggested  to  the  mind  of  the  investigator 
as  the  probable  explanation  of  them.  Then  he  would  proceed  to 
test  this  hypothesis  by  experiments,  which  he  would  give,  varying  the 
conditions  while  still  retaining  the  invariable  antecedent.  And  in 
like  manner  he  would  illustrate  the  other  logical  operations  until  the 
law  was  reached,  and  the  investigator  was  enabled  by  the  possession 
of  the  law  to  predict  phenomena.  And  this  he  did  with  each  branch 
of  Physics  as  he  traced  its  history.  He  required  the  students  to  take 
notes  on  his  lectures,  to  write  them  up  fully  in  blank  books,  and 
submit  them  to  him  to  be  graded.  No  textbook  was  used. 

It  was  to  me  a  most  instructive  and  mind-quickening  method.  It 
gave  not  merely  a  congeries  of  physical  facts,  but  truths  as  connected 
with  the  inductive  process  to  which  their  discovery  was  due.  And 
the  method  was  capable  of  application  to  many  of  the  circumstances 
of  practical  life. 

As  I  thought  of  this,  I  regretted  that  this  instruction  was  not 
given  to  the  class  earlier  in  the  course,  and  the  studies,  which  re- 
quired purely  abstract  thought,  like  mental  Philosophy  and  Ethics, 
unaided  by  diagrams  or  experiments,  given  later  in  the  College 
Curriculum.  I  understood  at  the  time  that  Professor  Henry  thought 
that  Physics  should  be  given  in  the  Senior  year;  and  that  students 
should  come  to  the  study  with  minds  somewhat  trained.  The  more 
the  training,  of  course,  the  better  for  the  student.  But  in  this 
opinion,  I  believe  Professor  Henry,  great  a  man  as  he  was,  was 
mistaken.  Most  educators  now  think  so.  Princeton  now  requires  a 
part  of  the  knowledge,  which  Professor  Henry  gave  us  for  ad- 
mission and  continues  the  study  of  Physics  in  the  Freshman  class. 
Even  the  elementary  conceptions  of  Inductive  Logic,  which  he  gave 
us  in  beginning  his  lectures,  are  now  given  to  the  Freshman  class  of 
Princeton  University,  with  ample  illustrations  and  exercises,  thus 
placing  the  reason  at  the  outset  of  the  course  of  study  in  a  proper 
attitude  to  all  subsequent  subjects  in  which  the  reason  is  exercised, 
and  making  all  such  subjects  more  fruitful  as  mental  disciplines. 


12  REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE 

Whoever  suggested  that  such  a  book  should  be  placed  in  the  hands 
of  Freshmen  was  an  enlightened  educator. 

All  of  the  professors  were  characterized  by  what  has  always  been 
a  quality  of  Princeton, — unpretending  thoroughness.  They  differed, 
of  course,  in  their  aptness  to  teach, — in  the  power  of  lucid  exposition, 
in  the  ability  to  place  themselves  in  imagination  in  the  position  of 
the  learner.  Occasionally  one  or  more  of  them  forgot  that  children 
in  knowledge  can  only  take  one  step  at  a  time,  and  that  a  short  one. 

All  of  the  professors  or  almost  all  were  specialists  in  their  depart- 
ments, and  their  hearts  were  in  their  work.  They  were  just  and 
impartial  in  their  intercourse  with  the  students,  and  tolerant  of  the 
freakishness  and  waywardness  of  youth. 

Yet,  for  all  that,  the  spirit  of  the  college  looked  backward,  not 
forward.  Its  critics  said  that  it  was  timid  and  an  opportunist. 
There  was  that  much  truth  in  the  criticism,  that  Princeton  left  the 
task  of  making  experiments  in  education  to  other  colleges.  This 
was  its  position  when  I  was  a  student.  But  when  progress  became 
inevitable  and  Princeton  moved,  her  friends  say  that  she  put  herself 
at  the  head  of  the  progressive  movement  in  education  in  this  coun- 
try. And  her  critics  are  either  silent  or  converted  into  friends. 


THE  CURRICULUM 

Princeton  College,  in  the  late  forties,  was  as  it  had  always  been  a 
great  school  of  Christian  learning,  where  the  minds  of  successive 
generations  of  youth  had  been  trained,  and  their  characters  formed. 
Its  graduates  were  to  be  found  in  all  walks  of  honorable  life  at 
home  and  some  of  them  abroad.  Its  curriculum  possessed  the  great 
essential  studies  of  a  sound  education, — languages,  mathematics  and 
philosophy.  If  there  were  gaps  in  its  curriculum,  according  to  pres- 
ent-day standards,  they  were  not  peculiar  to  Princeton.  They  were 
to  be  found  in  the  courses  of  study  in  other  colleges ;  they  were  due 
to  the  state  of  education  at  that  time  in  the  country. 

It  was  natural  in  colleges  founded  by  clergymen,  who  belonged 
to  conservative  churches,  that  Trustees  and  Faculties  should  chal- 
lenge the  modern  sciences,  and  ask  their  advocates  to  show  cause 
why  they  should  be  allowed  a  place  in  the  circle  of  the  long  estab- 
lished sciences,  and  kinship  with  them.  Some  of  these  sciences  had 
been  used  as  a  means  of  assailing  what  was  then  understood  to  be 
the  chronology  of  the  Bible;  and  others  seemed  but  little  fitted,  in 
the  eyes  of  these  grave  men,  to  be  used  in  education. 

As  one  places  the  catalogues  of  '48  and  of  1912  side  by  side,  there 
are  two  reflections  that  will  be  suggested.  One  is,  how  greatly  the 
course  of  study  has  been  secularized.  The  old  college  of  fifty  years 
ago,  which  still  bore  traces  of  its  church  origin,  and  was  a  fortress  of 
conservatism,  has  new  tenants.  The  unworldliness  of  the  old  college 
has  not  been  effaced,  but  relatively  it  is  not  so  much  in  evidence. 
The  old  curriculum  is  included  in  the  new,  but  the  ampler  develop- 
ment of  modern  society  has  caused  the  introduction  of  many  new 
subjects,  some  of  which  like  Art  and  Politics  would  have  been 
thought  unsuitable  by  the  men  of  the  old  regime.  It  is  now  a  definite 
purpose  that  the  sons  of  Princeton  should  not  only  be  strong,  but 
accomplished.  Whatever  has  permanent  interest  to  mankind  has 
now  interest  to  Princeton.  This  is  shown  also  in  Princeton's  dis- 
tribution of  honorary  degrees.  What  is  said  of  wisdom  in  Proverbs 

13 


14  REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE 

viii.  3 ist,  that  her  delight  is  with  the  sons  of  men,  may  now  be 
said  of  Princeton ;  her  delight  is  with  the  sons  of  men. 

Another  reflection,  which  is  suggested  by  a  comparison  of  the 
catalogues  of  '48  and  1912,  is  that  many  of  the  studies  of  '48  are 
now  among  the  subjects  required  for  admission  to  the  University  in 
1912.  Thus  room  has  been  made  for  the  advanced  study  of  these 
subjects,  and  for  many  important  subjects  such  as, — English  Liter- 
ature, Civics,  Anthropology,  Botany,  Geology,  and  Political  Econ- 
omy, which  either  had  no  place  in  the  old  curriculum,  or  were 
dismissed  in  two  or  three  lectures. 

Of  course,  the  problem  of  the  relation  of  college  studies  to  the 
studies  of  Professional  Schools  is  by  no  means  solved.  The  large 
number  of  students,  that  enter  the  Scientific  Departments  of  Univer- 
sities and  Technical  Schools,  shows  that  many  parents  are  unwilling 
that  their  sons  should  begin  their  life  work  as  late  as  their  twenty- 
sixth  or  seventh,  or  eighth  year,  when  that  work  is  itself  a  Post 
Graduate  Course  requiring  from  two  to  five  years  to  master. 


CLASSMATES 

CASPER  WISTAR  HODGE 

The  two  youngest  members  of  the  class  of  '48  were  C.  W.  Hodge 
and  Alfred  Young.  Both  had  entered  college,  when  they  were  about 
fourteen  years  of  age, — the  latter  before  he  was  fourteen.  Yet 
Hodge  was  Latin  Salutatorian,  and  his  average  grade  for  the  whole 
course  was  99.  He  was  modest  but  not  diffident ;  sedate  in  manner, 
sparing  of  speech  and  occupied  apparently  altogether  with  his 
studies.  He  had  no  associates  in  the  class.  This  was  possibly  due 
in  part  to  the  fact  that  he  lived  in  town,  and  at  some  little  distance 
from  the  college. 

He  was  mature  above  his  years;  and  indeed,  how  could  he  help 
but  be,  having  Dr.  Charles  Hodge  for  his  father,  and  Dr.  Addison 
Alexander  for  his  tutor.  His  nature  resembled  a  deep  and  quiet 
stream.  Young  as  he  was,  he  had  learned  the  secret  of  success, — 
concentration.  He  afterwards  became  a  distinguished  Professor 
in  Princeton  Theological  Seminary.  Possibly  his  concentration  on  a 
few  subjects  narrowed  his  views,  and  limited  his  sympathies.  In  his 
mature  life  he  was  more  conservative  than  his  father.  He  found 
much  in  the  tendencies  of  modern  life  to  condemn.  The  success, 
which  he  achieved  as  a  student  and  as  a  Professor,  followed  him  in 
his  business  ventures,  to  which  he  probably  gave  but  little  attention. 
When  he  died  he  left  his  family  a  competence. 

JOHN  EDWARDS 

John  Edwards  was  the  English  Salutatorian  with  an  average  grade 
of  98.8,  only  two  tenths  below  Hodge's.  Edwards  was  a  large  young 
man,  with  a  vigorous  mind,  and  an  energetic  manner.  He  was  a 
man  of  few  words,  which  were  always  to  the  point,  and  sometimes 
brusque.  His  bearing  and  manners  betokened  a  strong  nature,  but 
regardless  of  the  little  conventions  of  life.  He  labored  as  a  mis- 
sionary among  the  Western  Indians. 

15 


16  REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE 

WILLIAM  C.  CATTELL 

W.  C.  Cattell  was  somewhat  below  the  middle  height,  and  stoutly 
built.  His  manners  were  popular  and  his  bearing  free  and  easy. 
His  ready  laugh  and  word  made  him  acceptable  to  any  group  of  stu- 
dents he  joined.  Judging  by  his  demeanor,  one  would  say  that  he 
loved  laughter  better  than  study;  he  was  apparently  so  free  from 
preoccupation.  But  those,  who  thought  that  his  nature  was  of  a  gay 
and  festive  order,  did  not  look  beneath  the  surface.  He  was  in 
reality  a  close  and  an  ambitious  student,  and  attained  a  high  grade 
in  the  class.  He  cultivated  the  acquaintance  of  students  like  Cam- 
eron of  '47  and  Emerson  of  '49, — men  that  he  could  use.  Then  he 
put  them  forward,  where  they  would  meet  opposition,  the  conse- 
quences of  which  they  inherited,  but  which  he  escaped.  Cameron 
after  a  while  woke  up  to  a  knowledge  of  the  use  that  had  been 
made  of  him  and  resented  it. 

Thus  early  Cattell  began  to  practice  that  most  useful  gift, — the  art 
of  managing  men,  and  he  kept  in  the  practice  during  his  life.  He 
measured  men  by  their  success  in  managing  men.  To  ascribe  this 
power  to  a  man  was  in  his  judgment  a  eulogy,  while  the  want  of  this 
power  crippled  a  man  in  the  race  of  life. 

A  large  part  of  his  active  life  was  spent  in  offices,  to  the  adminis- 
trative duties  of  which  his  nature  took  kindly. 

HENRY  COOPER  PITNEY 

H.  C.  Pitney  joined  the  class  of  '48  at  the  beginning  of  the  Junior 
year.  He  was  a  large  young  man,  and  one  of  the  strongest  in  every 
respect  in  the  class.  His  distinguishing  characteristics  as  a  student 
were  force,  independence  and  loyalty  to  friends,  and  these  qualities 
were  shown  on  every  suitable  occasion  in  after  life. 

His  independence  and  loyalty  to  his  friends  placed  him  in  a  false 
position  on  one  occasion.  The  circumstances  were  these:  At  the 
final  examination  in  Mathematics  in  the  Junior  year,  someone  had 
obtained  a  copy  of  the  questions.  A  group  of  students  went  in  to 
the  examination  with  the  problems  worked  out.  The  cheat  was 
detected  by  the  examiner,  Professor  Stephen  Alexander,  and  another 
examination  was  ordered.  Some  rebelled  against  the  order.  They 
said  that  the  class  had  taken  the  regular  examination,  and  it  was 


REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE  17 

unjust  to  exact  another.  Permission  to  hold  a  meeting  of  the  class 
was  obtained.  Most  of  the  leaders  of  the  class  that  spoke,  held 
that  the  Faculty  was  perfectly  within  their  rights,  and  said  that  they 
would  attend  the  additional  examination.  As  Edwards  put  it,  the 
Faculty  had  a  right  to  order  as  many  examinations  as  they  pleased. 
Pitney  from  a  feeling  of  comradeship,  and  some  others  did  not  attend 
the  second  examination.  Many  years  afterwards,  he  told  me  that 
that  escapade  lowered  his  grade  ten  units.  Yet  notwithstanding  this 
mishap,  his  average  grade  for  the  whole  course  was  92.3.  He  was 
an  excellent  student,  and  one  of  the  Commencement  speakers.  At 
the  5oth  anniversary  of  the  graduation  of  the  Class,  he  was  selected 
to  represent  the  Class.  And  Mr.  Joline  of  New  York,  who  was 
Toastmaster,  in  introducing  him  spoke  of  him  as  a  great  authority 
in  Equity  Law.  He  was  for  many  years  one  of  the  Vice-Chancellors 
of  the  State. 

JAMES  McMuLLiN  CROWELL 

An  interest  attaches  itself  to  the  name  of  James  Crowell,  because 
he  is  an  example  and  an  encouragement  to  every  young  man,  who 
shows  no  special  aptitudes.  He  showed  no  gifts  above  mediocrity, 
except  fluency,  and  possibly  industry,  and  yet  his  life  was  one  of 
marked  success  and  usefulness.  It  was  the  harmonious  union  of  his 
gifts,  the  strength  which  each  imparted  to  the  other  gifts  that  were 
associated  with  it,  that  was  the  secret  of  his  success.  As  in  the  fable 
of  the  rods,  each  rod  was  weak,  and  could  be  easily  broken,  but  when 
laid  side  by  side  with  others,  and  tightly  bound  together,  the  bundle 
was  strong,  and  could  not  be  broken.  In  Crowell's  case  the  bond 
that  bound  his  powers  together  was  industry. 

Crowell  was  a  patient  and  an  industrious  student,  impartially 
giving  the  alloted  time  to  each  subject  of  study,  unseduced  by  the 
charms  of  good  fellowship  or  literature.  His  final  average  was 
consequently  high.  He  entered  the  ministry,  and  after  a  few  years 
in  a  rural  parish,  he  was  called  to  be  pastor  of  one  of  the  principal 
churches  in  Philadelphia.  Here  he  remained  many  years,  and  had  a 
successful  pastorate. 

He  was  a  serious  and  an  attractive  speaker.  His  flow  of  language 
was  easy  and  abundant.  His  voice  was  pleasant  to  listen  to,  and 
sympathetic.  A  little  after  he  became  pastor  of  this  church,  he  was 


i8  REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE 

elected  a  Trustee  of  Princeton  College,  the  only  member  of  the 
class  that  attained  that  honor.  When  he  resigned  the  pastorate  of 
his  church,  he  also  resigned  as  Trustee  in  Princeton.  During  his 
latter  years  he  was  Secretary  of  the  American  Sunday  School  Union. 
His  was  a  useful  and  an  honored  life.  His  years  were  given  to 
commending  the  truths  of  religion  to  the  hearts  and  minds  of 
thousands,  and  in  carrying  its  consolations  to  the  distressed  in  mind 
and  body. 

ISAAC  CHAUNCEY  WYMAN 

The  only  member  of  the  Class  of  '48  that  will  be  mentioned  a  few 
years  hence,  and  that  on  account  of  his  connection  with  the  Graduate 
School,  is  Wyman.  He  was,  when  a  student,  a  tall  and  slender  young 
man,  very  shy,  shrinking  from  acquaintanceship  rather  than  seeking 
it.  He,  therefore,  had  hardly  any  friends.  The  only  one  that  made 
any  progress  with  him  was  Pitney.  He  was  a  fair  student.  I  can 
scarcely  be  said  to  have  known  him.  He  was  a  Clio,  and  a  difference 
of  halls,  was  in  our  day  an  inseparable  barrier  to  any  more  intimate 
relation  than  a  speaking  acquaintance.  On  the  subject  of  Wyman's 
peculiarities  there  is  in  Judge  Pitney's  letter  to  me,  which  is  in  the 
possession  of  the  Editor  of  the  General  Catalogue,  information  at 
first  hand,  which  may  be  of  interest. 

The  following  facts,  which  were  given  to  me  by  an  intelligent 
resident  of  Salem,  who  often  saw  Wyman,  and  was  also  ac- 
quainted with  his  public  reputation,  may  in  this  connection  be  worth 
preserving. 

The  family  of  Wyman,  both  on  his  father's  and  mother's  side 
were  extensive  landholders  in  the  region  between  Salem  and  Marble- 
head,  and  he  inherited  real  estate.  He  lived  in  a  two-story  frame 
house  a  little  out  of  Salem,  on  the  road  to  Marblehead.  His  house- 
hold consisted  of  himself  and  housekeeper, — an  elderly  and  quite 
plain  woman,  who  milked  the  cow,  and  attended  to  all  chores  outside 
the  house  as  well  as  everything  within.  He  was  very  neat  in  his 
dress,  very  polite,  never  went  into  society,  or  visited  any  one,  or 
received  visitors  at  his  house.  There  were  a  few  business  men  in 
Salem  with  whom  he  was  intimate.  He  was  away  from  home  a 
good  deal  looking  after  his  real  estate.  He  was  never  known  to 
give  a  dollar  to  anyone  or  object  of  any  kind. 


REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE  19 

Did  he  like  Johns  Hopkins  make  a  virtue  of  penuriousness,  because 
he  purposed  to  consecrate  his  accumulations  to  some  such  object  as 
the  Graduate  School  ? 

In  thinking  of  the  Class  of  '48  and  of  my  classmates,  I  am 
impressed  with  the  greater  tolerance  of  the  Faculty  at  that  time  with 
delinquent  students.  I  cannot  recall  the  name  of  a  single  student, 
who  if  his  conduct  was  correct,  and  if  he  attended  regularly  the  reci- 
tations and  lectures,  was  dropped  from  the  class.  I  do  not  say  that 
none  was  dropped  for  deficient  scholarship,  but  that  I  never  heard 
of  such  an  instance. 

In  the  final  circular,  which  contains  the  names  of  all  members 
of  the  class,  who  have  grades  above  70,  only  fifty  of  such  names 
are  given.  Seventy-five  students  were  graduated.  So  that  there 
were  twenty-five  whose  grades  were  below  70,  or  who  might  be 
otherwise  designated. 

I  thought  at  the  time  that  there  were  evidences  of  a  different 
view  on  the  subject  of  such  students,  from  that  which  is  now  taken 
by  the  Faculties  of  all  our  Colleges  and  Universities.  Whether  the 
following  considerations  had  any  weight  with  the  Faculty  of  Prince- 
ton, I  do  not  know,  but  they  may  have  for  they  are  obvious.  The 
low-grade  students,  who  were  retained  in  their  classes,  were  in  an 
intellectual  atmosphere,  and  imbibed  a  certain  amount  of  knowledge 
and  culture  by  a  kind  of  intellectual  absorption.  They  were,  also, 
while  they  remained  in  college,  members  of  a  community,  where  the 
social  distinctions  of  the  world,  such  as  wealth,  honorable  descent, 
and  social  position  had  a  diminished  influence ;  but  where  intellect 
and  character  were  fully  recognized.  They  were  accustomed,  too,  to 
see  in  their  professors,  whom  they  respected,  religion  and  learning 
associated,  and  they  became  accustomed  to  think  that  they  should 
always  be,  that  knowledge  should  always  be  joined  to  religion  and 
religion  to  knowledge. 

If  the  delinquent  students  were  readers,  if  the  lure  that  drew  them 
away  from  their  textbooks  was  literature,  if  they  had  fallen  under 
the  dominion  of  the  great  masters  of  thought  and  style  of  English 
Literature,  "those  dead  but  sceptered  sovereigns,  whose  spirits  still 
rule  us  from  their  urns",  then  some  of  them  maintained, — heretics 
as  they  were, — that  their  gain  was  greater  than  their  loss,  that  for 


20  REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE 

their  work  in  life,  if  lawyers,  or  ministers,  or  men  of  leisure,  that 
they  carried  away  in  their  knowledge  of  literature  more  than  they 
left  behind.  They  carried  home  with  them,  also,  as  their  more 
studious  classmates  the  memory  of  college  friendships,  and  cherished 
associations,  which  made  Princeton  in  Lowell's  phrase,  one  of  the 
"Meccas  of  the  mind";  and  the  love  and  reverence  they  felt  for 
Princeton  was  transmitted  to  those  who  came  after  them. 

The  Civil  War  made  havoc  of  the  Class  of  '48.  It  began  a  little 
less  than  thirteen  years  after  the  class  had  left  college.  Those  of  its 
members,  who  entered  the  professions,  had  taken  their  degrees, 
and  established  themselves  in  their  professions.  All  of  the  members 
of  the  Class  of  '48  as  young  men  shared  more  or  less  the  new 
thought  of  their  localities.  They  had  acquired  a  local  prominence, 
so  that  when  the  war  came,  they  could  not  escape  leadership,  if  they 
would.  Many  of  them  entered  the  opposing  armies,  and  a  number 
lost  their  lives  by  wounds  or  sickness.  The  one  who  attained  the 
highest  rank  in  the  army  was  Wm.  Worth  Belknap.  He  became  a 
Major-General,  and  after  the  war  was  Secretary  of  War  from 
1869  to  1876. 


COLLEGE  LIFE 

The  day  began  at  6.30  with  the  clamorous  ringing  of  the  "rouser" 
as  the  College  bell  was  called.  Woe  to  the  students  who  turned  over 
in  their  beds  for  another  sleep.  The  next  morning  they  probably 
heard  no  bell  and  visions  of  an  interview  with  the  Faculty  loomed 
before  their  eyes,  which  straightway  became  a  reality.  But  most 
of  the  students  tumbled  out  of  bed,  and  some  of  them,  so  anxious 
were  they  not  to  miss  the  morning  prayers  went  half  dressed.  They 
put  on  their  trousers  and  shoes,  and  throwing  a  dressing  gown 
around  their  shoulders,  hastened  to  the  chapel. 

After  prayers  the  members  of  the  two  lower  classes  attended  a 
7  o'clock  recitation.  The  Juniors  and  Seniors  might  go  to  bed  again, 
which  some  of  them  did.  The  other  recitation  hours  were  1 1  and  4, 
at  each  of  which  the  bell  rang.  After  the  last  recitation,  there  was 
chapel  again  at  5.  After  chapel  most  of  the  students  spent  the  inter- 
vening time  to  supper  in  the  open  air,  usually  in  walking. 

The  roll  of  the  college  was  called  twice  every  day,  once  at  each 
chapel  service.  Three  times  every  day  your  room  was  visited  by  a 
Tutor  or  Adjunct  Professor.  At  9,  2  and  8  P.M.,  the  beginning  of 
each  study  hour,  the  door  of  your  room  was  opened  by  him  without 
knocking,  to  see  if  you  were  in  your  rooms.  To  be  out  on  the 
campus  or  in  the  street  after  9  P.M.  without  a  good  reason  was 
disorderly.  On  Sunday,  worship  in  the  chapel  at  n  o'clock  was 
attended  by  all  the  students.  The  Professors,  who  were  clergymen, 
preached  in  turn.  Bible  class  was  in  the  afternoon.  Speeches 
were  delivered  in  the  chapel  by  the  Seniors  to  which  the  public  was 
admitted.  The  bright  dresses  of  the  ladies  made  a  contrast  with 
the  sober  garments  of  the  Professors  and  students.  The  new 
chapel,  the  predecessor  of  Marquand,  was  then  not  finished. 

There  was  at  that  time  a  serious  attempt  made  to  supervise  the 
daily  life  of  the  student.  Each  student  was  individualized  and  the 
oversight  in  some  degree  adjusted  to  the  known  character  of  the 
student.  Dr.  MacLean  in  '82,  when  I  talked  with  him,  lamented  the 


21 


22  REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE 

growth  of  the  college  since  Dr.  McCosh  had  come,  because  this 
supervision  was  no  longer  possible. 

During  Commencement  week,  the  President  gave  a  reception  to 
the  Senior  Class,  and  their  friends,  and  to  the  Faculty, — the  only 
social  function  of  the  college  year.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  day 
before  Commencement,  an  Alumnus,  chosen  alternately  by  each  Hall, 
delivered  an  oration.  In  the  evening  the  eight  Junior  orators, — four 
from  each  Hall, — spoke.  During  the  week  the  Senior  ball  was  given. 
Commencement  Day  was  a  local  holiday,  with  the  usual  accompani- 
ments of  a  holiday. 

No  distinctive  dress  or  cap  was  used  by  the  students.  A  negligee 
dress  while  on  the  campus,  or  around  the  college  buildings,  was 
the  vogue.  Almost  any  article  of  dress,  however  well  worn,  could 
be  used.  When  they  went  into  town,  or  for  their  evening  walk, 
they  spruced  up  a  little.  This  was  true  of  the  many.  We  always 
had  some  precisians  in  dress.  On  Sunday,  neatness  was  the  order 
of  the  day  with  all. 

Life  in  college  was  democratic,  real  and  manly,  dashed  occasion- 
ally with  a  thrill  of  sentiment.  These  years  were  to  many  among 
the  happiest  years  of  their  lives.  To  some  the  development  of  their 
intellectual  powers,  the  increase  of  knowledge,  and  the  birth  of  new 
feelings,  brought  a  better  knowledge  of  themselves,  and  a  new  view  of 
life.  They  then  seemed  for  the  first  to  become  acquainted  with 
themselves,  and  they  began  to  listen  to  the  voices  which  were  calling 
to  them  from  the  future. 

REFECTORIES 

There  were  two  refectories,  or  a  refectory  and  a  poor  house,  as 
the  cheaper  one  was  called.  The  poor  house  was  a  long  narrow 
frame  building,  that  stood  on  the  Southeast  corner  of  what  was  then 
William  Street  and  the  Prospect  driveway.  A  vestibule  opened  into 
a  long  dining  room,  with  windows  on  each  side,  and  a  passage  way 
leading  from  end  to  end.  On  each  side  of  this  the  tables  were  ar- 
ranged. The  food  was  plain  but  abundant.  The  service  and  table 
furniture  were  also  plain.  The  students  were  always  orderly  at 
meals.  The  only  accompaniment  of  the  business  of  the  hour,  was 
friendly  and  quiet  chat.  The  price  of  board  was  $2.25  a  week. 


REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE  23 

The  other  dining  hall  was  in  the  basement  of  the  building  east  of 
North  College,  the  first  story  of  which  was  used  for  the  Senior 
lectures.  It  was  called  The  Refectory.  Here  the  board  was  thought 
to  be  better.  It  was  frequented  by  the  richer  students.  Here  there 
was  an  occasional  ripple  of  disorder,  plates  with  their  contents  were 
sometimes  turned  up  side  down,  and  sometimes  broken  as  a  gentle 
criticism  by  the  students  of  their  fare.  The  board  was  $3.25 
or  $3.50  per  week.  Both  of  these  r€fectories  were  conducted  by 
the  college  with  the  design  of  keeping  down  the  price  of  board  in 
town. 

Quite  a  number  of  students  boarded  in  town.  And  a  still  larger 
number  boarded  in  clubs.  These  were  informal  associations  of  stu- 
dents, numbering  about  twelve,  who  provided  their  own  provisions, 
and  each  paid  the  housekeeper,  who  cooked  the  food,  twenty-five 
cents  a  week.  A  purveyor,  who  took  charge  of  the  business  of  the 
club,  received  his  board  free.  In  this  way  the  cost  of  board  could  be 
regulated  as  the  members  of  the  club  wished,  or  their  means  made 
necessary. 

SPORTS 

There  were  no  organized  athletics  in  Princeton,  while  I  was  there. 
Occasionally  there  would  be  a  game  of  shinny  in  the  rear  campus, 
and  still  more  seldom  a  game  of  baseball.  Walking  between  evening 
chapel  and  supper  was  the  favorite  exercise.  And  while  a  few 
students  might  be  found,  who  set  their  faces  in  different  directions, 
the  favorite  walk  was  to  Jugtown.  And  by  an  odd  coincidence,  some 
of  the  young  ladies  of  the  town  occasionally  chose  that  hour  and 
place  for  their  evening  stroll.  On  Saturday  afternoons,  when  the 
students  had  more  time,  longer  tramps  were  essayed. 

My  brother  and  myself  had  resources  in  the  way  of  exercise,  which 
the  other  students  did  not  possess.  He  had  taken  lessons  in  boxing 
and  fencing,  and  I  had  profited  somewhat  by  his  skill.  So  that 
whenever  we  had  leisure,  or  the  day  was  stormy,  we  would  have  a 
bout  with  either  gloves  or  the  foils,  and  sometimes  there  would  be  a 
spectator  or  two. 

One  day  during  our  Junior  year  a  fencing  master,  a  German, 
came  to  Princeton.  He  was  sent  to  our  room.  The  fencing  lessons 
were  resumed,  pupils  obtained  for  the  teacher,  and  exhibitions  were 


24  REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE 

given.     But  fencing  never  became  popular,  and  the  interest  after  a 
while  died  out. 


HAZING   AND   OTHER   IRREGULARITIES 

There  was  no  organized  hazing  of  the  Freshman  class  by  the 
Sophomores  while  I  was  in  Princeton.  The  number  at  that  time 
in  the  Freshman  class  was  insignificant.  When  I  entered  college  it 
amounted  to  about  a  baker's  dozen.  When  I  graduated  the  number 
had  crept  up  to  twenty.  The  Sophomore  class  treated  the  Freshman 
class  as  they  did  the  other  classes.  There  was  no  compelling  the 
class  to  wear  a  distinctive  article  of  dress,  no  imposition  on  them  of 
humiliating  stunts,  or  compelling  them  to  step  off  the  side  walk 
into  the  street,  when  they  met  higher  classmen.  If  anything,  there 
was  a  slight  disposition  to  move  such  rude  courtesies  a  peg  higher, 
and  for  the  Juniors  to  play  the  petty  tyrants  with  the  Sophomores. 
But  the  latter  were  numerous  enough  and  strong  enough  to  take 
care  of  themselves. 

But  although  there  was  no  class  persecution,  there  was  hazing  of 
individuals,  but  the  victims  were  not  confined  to  the  Freshman  class, 
nor  was  the  hazing  done  by  Sophomores.  Such  cases  when  they 
occurred  were  punished,  if  the  perpetrators  were  detected,  as  other 
acts  of  disorder.  These  were  such  as  injuries  to  the  property  of 
the  college  or  townspeople.  For  instance :  Professor  Hope,  who 
was  then  living  in  the  house  west  of  North  College,  woke  up  one 
morning  and  found  that  his  cow  had  been  painted  during  the  night, 
and  the  words  "mixed  metaphor", — he  was  Professor  of  Rhetoric, — 
had  been  chalked  in  many  places  on  his  house  and  fences. 

There  was  a  fire,  too,  while  I  was  a  student,  and  students  were 
the  incendiaries.  Some  out  buildings,  which  had  become  offensive 
to  them,  were  set  on  fire  and  consumed. 

An  ungracious  act,  altogether  too  common,  was  for  the  students 
when  any  sightseers,  who  had  anything  of  a  rustic,  or  otherwise 
noticeable  appearance,  strayed  into  the  rear  campus,  to  throw  up 
their  windows,  and  begin  to  chaff  them.  The  visitors  would  stop, 
look  around  them,  and  from  college  building  to  college  building  in 
their  bewilderment,  then  turn  and  leave  hastily,  as  though  detected 


REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE  25 

in  trespassing.  I  never  saw  any,  who  had  sufficient  self-possession 
and  independence  to  continue  their  walk. 

A  favorite  mode  of  relieving  nervous  tension,  after  the  afternoon 
recitation,  was  the  shuffling  of  feet  and  stamping  at  afternoon 
chapel,  when  the  roll  was  called.  The  form  of  the  chapel  lent  itself 
readily  to  such  an  abuse.  It  was  the  room  in  North  College  directly 
opposite  the  main  entrance.  Right  over  the  entrance  was  a  gallery, 
and  opposite  was  a  high  platform,  on  which  was  the  pulpit,  with 
large  windows  on  each  side.  On  this  high  platform  stood  the  tutor 
or  adjunct  professor,  who  called  the  roll.  He  was  so  high  up,  that 
he  could  not  see  beneath  the  gallery.  The  roll  call  was  therefore 
accompanied  by  a  continual  chorus  of  stamping  to  prevent  the 
answers  of  the  students,  when  their  names  were  called,  from  being 
heard.  Especially  was  this  instrumental  accompaniment  loud  from 
the  Juniors,  when  the  roll  of  the  Sophomores  was  called. 

But  the  Saturnalia  of  riotous  disorder  was  called  a  barring  out. 
This  was  an  event,  which  had  to  be  carefully  planned  beforehand, 
and  tactfully  executed.  Stout  boards  or  small  sticks  of  cord  wood 
were  accumulated  in  the  rooms  of  North  College  and  secreted.  Then 
some  evening,  just  before  the  tutors  and  adjunct  professors  had  re- 
turned to  their  rooms,  the  doors  of  North  College  would  be  slammed 
to  and  braced,  the  bell  would  be  set  ringing  as  though  it  was  rung  by 
a  tipsy  bellman,  and  shouts  would  be  raised  by  the  students  within, 
who  were  in  the  plot. 

Almost  immediately,  as  if  by  magic,  the  building  would  be  sur- 
rounded by  students  drawn  by  curosity  to  see  the  fun.  Dr.  MacLean 
and  the  Adjunct  Professors  and  Tutors  would  appear,  and  the  assault 
of  the  beleaguered  fortress  would  begin.  It  was  in  caricature  Locks- 
ley  and  the  Black  Knight  assaulting  Front  de  Boeuf's  castle.  And 
as  in  that  case,  the  assailants  would  finally  prevail.  They  would 
select  some  door,  and  bend  all  their  energies  to  bursting  it  open, 
while  the  rioters  within  would  strive  to  strengthen  their  defences. 

During  the  first  and  only  barring  out  that  I  witnessed,  my  brother 
and  myself  were  sitting  quietly  in  our  room,  which  was  then  in  North 
College,  when  a  classmate  came  to  the  room  and  asked  us  to  come  to 
his  room,  which  was  next  the  door  assailed,  and  see  the  fun.  We 
went  to  his  room,  where  quite  a  crowd  was  assembled.  We  had  not 


26  REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE 

been  there  long  and  had  just  got  a  glimpse  of  the  situation  around 
the  college  door,  when  it  gave  way  and  Professor  Giger  appeared 
at  the  door  of  the  room  we  were  in,  his  clothes  whitened  either  with 
flour  or  lime,  and  soiled  as  though  he  had  been  rolled  on  the  ground, 
his  face  flushed,  and  named  in  succession  the  names  of  the  students 
in  the  room,  our  names  among  the  number. 

After  all  had  quieted  down,  we  went  over  to  Professor  Henry's 
study,  and  told  him  how  we  came  to  be  in  the  room  in  which  Giger 
found  us ;  and  that  was  the  last  we  heard  of  the  matter.  But  it  was 
not  so  with  all.  Major  Lee  as  he  was  called,  on  account  of  his  mili- 
tary bearing,  a  classmate,  who  roomed  next  to  us,  was  caught  in  a 
compromising  position,  and  knew  that  he  would  be  suspended. 
When  we  went  to  his  room  to  sympathize  with  him,  we  found  him 
reading  the  Prayer  Book.  After  he  left  college,  we  heard  that  he 
was  shot  in  a  street  fight  in  the  South.  That  reckless  and  generous 
nature  was  soon  at  rest. 

A  SOPHOMORE  COMMENCEMENT 

Towards  the  end  of  the  Sophomore  year,  our  class  resolved  to 
have  a  Sophomore  Commencement.  All  the  class  were  in  favor  of 
it.  Hodge  was  excused  because  he  lived  in  town,  and  Cattell  because 
his  brother  Thomas  was  an  Adjunct  Professor  in  the  college.  Dr. 
MacLean  soon  got  wind  of  it,  and  one  day  came  into  the  class  room 
and  forbade  it.  But  while  walking  out  of  the  room  he  added,  "some 
of  the  last  Sophomore  class  after  their  Commencement  got  drunk 
and  were  disorderly.  And  the  Faculty  are  resolved  that  there  shall 
not  be  a  repetition."  These  words  furnished  us  with  our  cue.  We, 
too,  resolved  that  there  should  not  be  a  repetition.  Some  of  the 
prospective  speakers  prepared  a  paper  in  which  the  members  of  the 
class  pledged  themselves  to  abstain  from  all  intoxicating  liquors  dur- 
ing the  day  and  evening  of  the  Commencement.  And  made  their 
taking  part  in  the  affair  depend  on  all  signing  it.  All  signed  it. 

The  Commencement  took  place  in  the  Academy,  a  frame  building 
on  Washington  Road.  The  room  was  lit  with  tallow  candles,  so  in 
more  senses  than  one,  it  was  not  a  very  brilliant  affair.  The  Seniors 
had  circulated  a  satirical  program  the  day  before.  Dr.  MacLean 
came  after  we  were  under  way  and  obtained  a  copy  of  ours.  The 


REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE  27 

audience  of  students  was  orderly,  and  there  was  occasionally  faint 
applause,  with  now  and  then  the  word  "louder". 

After  the  exercises  were  over,  a  line  was  formed,  and  we  marched 
to  the  hotel,  where  we  took  our  places  in  a  row  around  the  long 
dining  room,  and  ate  sandwiches  and  replied  briefly  to  sentiments 
that  were  offered.  We  then  separated,  and  went  to  our  rooms.  All 
the  members  of  the  class  kept  their  pledge.  After  I  gained  my  room, 
and  the  excitement  was  all  over,  I  felt  like  a  man  that  had  fallen 
down  stairs. 

Nothing  was  done  about  it  by  the  Faculty,  during  the  few  re- 
maining days  of  the  college  year.  But  when  the  college  reopened, 
the  speakers  were  summoned  before  the  Faculty.  When  questioned 
in  regard  to  the  Commencement,  we  all  had  the  same  defense.  We 
said  that  we  agreed  perfectly  with  Dr.  MacLean  and  the  Faculty, — 
that  we  like  them  had  resolved  that  there  should  not  be  another 
disorderly  Sophomore  Commencement,  but  a  sober  orderly  exem- 
plary one,  and  such  a  commencement  we  had  given  them.  Dr. 
MacLean  tried  to  point  out  the  difference  between  the  Faculty's  idea 
and  ours,  but  we  could  not  see  it.  We  only  said  that  we  thought,  if 
we  gave  them  such  a  commencement  as  we  did,  they  would  not  find 
fault.  Nothing  was  done  with  us.  That  was  the  last  Sophomore 
Commencement  that  I  ever  heard  of,  or  at  least  that  was  held  in 
Princeton. 

WHIG  AND  CLIO  HALLS 

The  two  Halls  did  yeoman  service  in  the  cause  of  education  in  my 
time,  and  supplemented  the  curriculum  of  the  College.  I  think  the 
Faculty  leaned  on  them  in  some  things. 

Their  founders  had  admirably  enlisted  a  principle,  which  has 
contributed  greatly  to  the  prosperity  and  growth  of  Anglo-Saxon 
commonwealths, — a  principle  which  has  made  English  colonies  a 
success,  while  the  colonies  of  other  countries,  subjected  to  govern- 
ment control  have  been  failures.  It  is  the  principle  of  individual 
liberty  and  self-government.  The  possession  and  exercise  of  this 
liberty  in  the  Halls,  to  which  secrecy  lent  a  zest,  made  work  agree- 
able because  it  was  self-imposed,  and  the  work  of  the  Halls  made 
them  no  insignificant  vestibules  of  the  great  world,  which  their 


28  REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE 

members  were  so  soon  to  enter.  But  these  advantages  were  chiefly 
possessed  by  those  who  made  use  of  their  opportunities.  All  of  the 
College  students  were  then  members  of  either  one  or  the  other  Hall. 
There  was  a  serious  quarrel  between  the  two  Halls  during  my 
Junior  Year.  It  arose  in  this  way.  A  member  of  Whig  Hall  was 
observed  near  Clio  Hall,  while  its  members  were  in  session,  and 
Clio  charged  him  with  eavesdropping.  After  a  few  notes  were  inter- 
changed, Clio  refused  an  answer  to  Whig  Hall's  communications. 
Whig  Hall  then  retaliated  by  posting  Clio  in  language  borrowed  from 
the  duelling  code.  Clio  retaliated  by  refusing  to  speak  to  Whigs. 
Things  looked  squally  for  a  time.  The  Faculty  took  it  up.  A 
committee  was  appointed  consisting  of  one  graduate,  a  member  of 
the  Faculty,  and  a  member  of  Whig  Hall.  Whig  Hall  finally  with- 
drew the  offensive  paper,  and  amity  was  restored. 


W.  W.  LORD 

There  was  one  man,  who  was  much  in  evidence  in  Princeton  dur- 
ing the  six  years  of  my  student  life,  and  who  also,  at  one  time,  was 
connected  with  the  College.  It  was  W.  W.  Lord.  He  belonged  to  a 
prominent  Presbyterian  family,  being  a  younger  brother  of  Dr. 
Lord,  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.  He  had  published  a  small  volume  of  poems, 
which  were  regarded  by  good  judges  as  giving  evidences  of  poetic 
power.  Dr.  James  W.  Alexander  once  said  to  me,  that  there  were 
lines  in  Lord's  poems,  that  reminded  him  of  Milton.  Professor 
Dod  was  one  of  his  admirers,  and  an  intimate  friend,  and  by  his 
influence  Lord  was  appointed  a  Fellow  of  the  College. 

To  one  who  met  and  talked  with  Lord  for  the  first  time,  he 
seemed  altogether  an  extraordinary  man.  He  had  an  oracular  way 
of  speaking,  often  putting  his  ideas  in  a  figurative  form.  For  in- 
stance, he  once  said,  after  he  entered  the  Episcopal  Church,  when  I 
was  present,  "They  say  that  the  Church  of  the  Middle  Ages  was 
dead.  If  she  was  dead,  she  grew  in  her  grave."  And  on  another 
occasion,  he  called  pride,  lust  and  hate  the  sucking  devils  of  the 
breast. 

I  sometimes  met  him  at  the  houses  of  the  Princeton  residents,  and 
occasionally  walked  with  him.  He  was  about  five  years  my  senior, 
and  better  read,  and  could  reproduce  the  scenes  and  characters  of  his 
favorite  authors  with  vividness.  But  after  a  while  the  glamour 
sensibly  waned.  I  began  to  discover  that  he  was  opinionated,  and 
masterful,  and  that  his  general  statements  were  sometimes  inaccu- 
rate. Once  at  Dr.  Hodge's  house,  he  made  some  sweeping  statement 
about  the  Reformation.  Dr.  Hodge  contradicted  him,  and  in  a  grave 
tone  added,  "It  is  a  solemn  thing  to  falsify  history". 

If  Lord  was  seriously  opposed,  or  offended — and  he  was  easily 
offended — he  kept  no  terms  with  the  person  he  was  talking  to.  One 
of  his  favorite  weapons  was  ridicule.  He  did  not  restrain  himself 
even  before  ladies,  whose  presence  acted  as  a  restraint  on  his  oppon- 
ents. His  encounter  with  Dr.  Torrey,  a  Professor  in  the  College,  and 

29 


30  REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE 

a  much  older  man,  at  an  evening  entertainment,  furnished  matter 
for  gossip  in  Princeton  for  some  time. 

Candor  compels  me  to  say  that  a  number  of  the  Princeton  Pro- 
fessors regarded  him  as  superficial  and  pretentious.  Dr.  MacLean 
was  neither  in  sympathy  with  his  spirit  or  his  opinions.  Professor 
Hope  told  me  that,  when  Lord  went  to  Amherst  College,  as  Assist- 
ant Professor  of  Mental  Philosophy,  he  made  a  failure  of  it. 

And  yet  Dr.  Hodge,  true  to  his  friendship  for  Professor  Dod — 
Lord's  friend — appeared  with  him  before  the  Diocesan  Committee  of 
New  Jersey,  when  Lord  made  application  for  admission  to  orders  in 
the  Episcopal  Church,  to  certify  to  his  character.  Mrs.  Patterson, 
the  wife  of  the  Episcopal  Minister  in  Princeton,  was  pleased  with 
this,  and  when  she  met  Dr.  Hodge,  she  said,  "Dr.  Hodge,  you  should 
be  made  a  Bishop".  "Madam,"  Dr.  Hodge  answered,  "I  am  one." 

Lord  went  South  after  he  was  ordained,  but  he  never  rose  to 
any  high  position  in  the  Episcopal  Church,  which  is  what  might  have 
been  expected.  A  man  so  tactless  and  passionate,  in  the  office  of  a 
bishop,  would  have  been  the  bull  in  the  china  shop.  He  was  in 
Vicksburg  during  the  siege  of  that  city  by  Grant,  and  daily 
harangued  the  people.  When  Vicksburg  surrendered,  Grant  offered 
to  send  him  to  his  brother,  Judge  Lord  of  St.  Louis,  whom  Grant 
knew.  Lord  declined  the  offer  and  preferred  to  remain  within  the 
Confederacy.  When,  Sherman  was  on  his  march  north  from  Savan- 
nah, he  passed  through  the  village  in  which  Lord  had  found  refuge. 

After  the  war,  he  came  North,  and  was  rector  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  Cooperstown,  N.  Y.  If  he  published  anything  after  his 
book  of  poetry,  I  am  ignorant  of  it.  Towards  the  close  of  his  life, 
he  tried  to  persuade  Mrs.  Edwin  A.  Stevens  of  Hoboken, — the 
Miss  Martha  B.  Dod  of  some  60  years  before,  of  whom  in  the  old 
days  he  had  been  a  suitor,  to  become  responsible  for  the  cost  of  pub- 
lishing a  book  he  had  written.  But  the  proposition  was  declined. 
Lord  died  at  a  hotel  in  New  York  City  in  1907,  aged  88. 


THE  STUDENTS  AND  THE  TOWNSPEOPLE 

There  were  in  Princeton  in  my  day  three  distinct  social  sets,  be- 
tween which  there  was  but  little  intercourse.  There  was,  first,  a 
group  of  wealthy  families  made  up  of  Commodore  Stockton's  family, 
and  the  family  of  his  son  John  Stockton,  the  three  Potter  families, 
the  family  of  ex-Governor  Thomson,  whose  widow  was  afterwards 
a  benefactress  of  the  Graduate  School  and  a  few  others.  Most  of 
these  families  had  intermarried  at  some  time  in  their  history.  They 
were  all  Episcopalians.  They  lived  in  spacious  houses,  sometimes 
with  extensive  grounds  attached,  of  which  Prospect  and  Morven 
are,  or  rather  were,  examples. 

This  class,  which  may  be  called  the  leisure  class  or  the  aristocrats, 
differed  from  the  next  class,  the  professors,  in  wealth,  in  style  of  liv- 
ing, in  their  standards,  and  aims.  Sometimes  a  man  belonging  to 
this  class  would  marry  the  daughter  of  a  Professor,  accepting  the 
dower  of  beauty  in  place  of  any  other.  And  sometimes  the  daughter 
of  an  aristocrat  would  look  with  favorable  eyes  on  a  young  Profes- 
sor, or  promising  graduate.  Her  parents,  in  their  remonstrance  with 
her,  might  say  "we  don't  know  where  this  young  man  has  come 
from".  But  the  daughter  was  sure  she  knew  where  the  young  man 
was  going,  and  wanted  to  go  with  him  ;*  and  so  there  would  some- 
times be  a  wedding. 

Among  the  second  class,  the  Professors,  there  was  but  little  socia- 
bility. The  families  of  course  exchanged  visits.  But  the  preoccupa- 
tion of  the  professors  in  their  work,  and  their  scanty  incomes  pre- 
cluded an  interchange  of  entertainments.  In  this  class,  while  good 
family  was  valued,  yet  personal  ability  and  good  character  were 
valued  more. 

There  is  one  exception  to  be  made  to  the  statement  as  to  the 
lack  of  sociability  among  the  Professors.  It  was  the  family  of  Dr. 
Torrey.  Mrs.  Torrey,  who  had  three  attractive  daughters,  gave 
entertainments  occasionally.  At  one  of  them  Dr.  Samuel  Miller  of 

*  Said   of   Philip  Henry  the   father   of   Matthew  'Henry. 


32  REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE 

the  Theological  Seminary  was  present.  Charades  were  given.  Dr. 
Miller  was  shocked.  He  felt  that  he  had  been  invited  to  a  play,  and 
left  the  house  without  ceremony.  The  conflict  between  a  sense  of 
duty  and  politeness  was  brief.  Conscience  had  its  way. 

Dr.  Miller's  manners  had  been  formed  in  the  school  of  Chester- 
field. He  was  called  the  Chesterfield  of  the  American  clergy.  His 
courtesy  was  elaborate  but  genuine.  It  was  a  glimpse  of  old  world 
manners  to  see  him  bow  to  ladies  on  the  street.  However  cold  and 
windy  the  day,  his  hat  was  raised  exposing  his  bald  head  to  the 
wind,  and  his  bow  was  deliberate  and  profound.  But  his  goodness 
was  as  manifest  as  his  courtesy,  and  impressed  and  attracted  even 
worldlings. 

But  there  were  a  number  of  intelligent  families  in  Princeton,  who 
were  reckoned  socially  with  the  Professors,  who  had  occasional 
entertainments,  musical  or  social.  They  were  those  who  had 
been  attracted  to  Princeton  as  a  desirable  place  of  residence,  or 
families  who  had  sons  in  college.  In  these  families  there  were  ladies 
interested  in  literature  and  music,  and  more  than  one  highly  educated. 
They,  together  with  the  Professors  and  professional  people  in 
town, — Doctors,  Lawyers  and  Ministers  made  up  the  second  class. 

The  third  class  was  made  up  of  the  storekeepers  and  master 
mechanics.  The  last  two  classes  met  in  church  work,  and  had 
more  or  less  to  do  with  one  another  in  business,  and  the  local  politics 
of  the  town.  But  they  did  not  interchange  visits,  and  very  rarely 
intermarried. 

The  feeling  between  the  students  and  shopkeepers  was  cordial. 
The  door  knobs  which  were  wrenched  off,  or  signs  displaced,  while 
I  was  a  student  were  a  negligible  quantity.  The  students  as  a  whole 
found  their  college  life  with  its  lessons,  and  Halls  and  comradeship 
sufficient,  and  did  not  go  into  society  in  town.  A  few  students 
brought  letters  of  introduction  to  town  families,  the  presentation  of 
which  was  followed  by  invitations  to  dinner.  And  some  students 
introduced  in  other  ways,  became  visitors  in  the  town.  Acquain- 
tanceship in  some  cases  led  to  more  serious  feelings,  and  some  of 
the  college  graduates  returned,  and  took  Princeton  girls  home  as 
wives.  But  it  passed  into  a  proverb,  what  effect  crossing  Stony 
Brook  had  on  the  memories  and  affections  of  some  men,  even  when 


REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE  33 

there  had  been  mutual  attraction  between  them,  and  the  companions 
of  their  idle  hours. 

My  brother  and  myself  taught  during  our  Senior  year,  each  an 
hour  a  day,  in  a  young  ladies'  school  in  town.  And  this  led  to  an 
acquaintance  with  the  parents  of  the  young  ladies.  During  the  three 
years  of  our  seminary  life,  we  also  gave  lessons  in  families  in  town, 
and  we  became  visitors  in  some  of  their  homes.  And  we  were  as 
well  acquainted  with  the  people  of  Princeton  at  that  time,  as  almost 
any  students,  whose  families  were  not  residents. 


CONCLUSION 

Princeton  has  so  greatly  changed  that  if  a  graduate  of  fifty  or 
sixty  years  standing,  who  had  not  visited  Princeton  in  the  interval, 
should  be  set  down  on  the  campus,  in  the  midst  of  the  new  Halls,  he 
would  not  know  where  he  was.  The  changes  are  so  great  that  the 
surroundings  would  be  unrecognizable.  Only  three  of  the  old 
College  buildings  are  left, — relics  of  an  earlier  generation.  But  these 
relics,  in  their  simple  outlines,  are  in  keeping  with  the  singleness  of 
aim,  and  strength  of  purpose  of  the  characters  of  their  founders, 
and  of  the  great  church  with  which  they  were  in  sympathy,  and  with 
the  characters  of  the  Faculty  and  Trustees  to  which  the  fortunes  of 
the  College  were  entrusted.  As  that  church  has  always  looked  out 
for  the  things  that  are  most  worth  while,  so  did  the  Faculty  and 
Trustees  of  Princeton  in  the  late  forties.  Beauty  or  majesty  of 
proportions  were  then  not  considered  prime  assets. 

As  one  wanders  amid  the  new  Halls,  which  possess  both  beauty 
and  majesty,  he  realizes  that  the  men,  whose  hands  are  now  on  the 
helm  of  affairs  also  look  out  for  the  things  that  are  most  worth 
while,  that  while  of  old  the  fortunes  of  its  friends  were  numbered 
by  tens  of  thousands,  the  fortunes  of  its  friends  now  are  numbered 
by  millions.  And  all  feelings  of  regret  for  the  Princeton  of  past 
times,  pictures  of  which  live  in  the  memories  of  a  few,  are  excluded 
by  exultation  in  the  evidences  of  life  and  growth,  which  are  seen 
on  every  hand.  The  changes,  which  he  sees,  are  the  changes  which 
appear  when  a  higher  form  of  free  progressive  and  exulting  life 
manifests  itself. 

And  all  the  growth  of  Princeton  and  a  still  more  varied  develop- 
ment will  be  needed,  if  Princeton  is  to  hold  her  place  as  a  national 
university,  if  her  graduates  are  to  be  fitted  for  leadership  in  develop- 
ing the  manifold  interests  of  modern  society,  and  if  Princeton  shall 
continue  in  the  future  as  she  has  in  the  past,  to  send  out  men  with 
intellects  and  characters  fitted  to  safeguard  and  adapt  the  institutions 
of  religion  and  the  state  to  the  growing  needs  of  the  country.  For 

34 


REMINISCENCES  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE  35 

seldom  in  the  history  of  mankind  have  the  forces  of  the  enemies 
of  religion  and  our  political  institutions,  and  of  our  business  pros- 
perity been  more  numerous,  or  better  organized  or  more  active. 
They  are  found  in  every  community,  and  therefore  their  battle  line 
may  be  said  to  extend  from  ocean  to  ocean,  with  fortresses  at  each 
wing,  and  not  a  few  scattered  along  the  line.  In  the  conflicts,  which 
are  inevitable,  the  graduates  of  Princeton  must  acquit  themselves 
like  men. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


, 

'" 

REC'D  LD 

JflN16'64-4P!H 

^e  YD  00964 


297655 


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